As the Day Begins
by blaisezabinisaboy
Summary: Hermione and Snape work together for a while. Eventual SSHG
1. Chapter 1: The Dawn of a New Day

Monday, September 2nd

Hermione:

"HERMIONE! GET YOUR ARSE UP!" bellows Ron from outside of the doorway. It was the first day of Hermione's seventh year and ever since the battle she saw no use for getting up every morning. Her whole life was focused towards helping Harry defeat Voldemort, and now that he is out of the picture, she has nothing left.

She groaned at the though of another school year. Learning did not seem as important as it once had. There was no longer a goal for her to strive towards

"GIVE ME A BLOODY SECOND, RON!" she yells to Ron who is still pounding at the door,

She opens her eyes, and closes them again, not expecting the light to be quite that bright. She puts on her robes and stumbles out into the Gryffindor common room, surprised by the amount of people who were awake.

"What time is it?" she mumbles to Ron

"7:30," responds Ginny bounding out of the girls dormitory.

"Why is everyone up so early?" Hermione asks, it was only the first day, they have not gotten their schedules yet, and they don't have to be in the Great Hall for another hour.

"Didn't you hear? They're having a special Quidditch match! The Ministry versus the Bulgarians!

"Well good for the Quidditch players!" says Hermione with fake enthusiasm striding out of the common room and into the stairwell to go down to the Great Hall for some food. She had been unable to eat the night , not wanting to be around her fellow classmates, tired of their immaturity . Her stomach growls at her on her way down the stairs, she should have gone to the kitchen after everyone else had gone to sleep, too bad Hermione had not thought of that then.

When she gets to the Great Hall and goes to open the door, someone else pushes it open and it hits Hermione in the forehead, stunning her a bit. "Damn," she mumbles.

"Ms. Granger," says the familiar drawl

"Oh, Professor Snape, hi!" she says, blushing slightly, afraid the professor would take points off for her swearing. Her mouth starts to move and she cannot control what she blurts out "I wanted to thank you, for everything, and I apologize for not trusting you, I can only imagine what you've been through…"

"Yes, Ms. Granger, you can _only_ imagine, and if you would please not waste any more of my time…" Snape interrupts.

"Oh, sorry, yes, sir," she says stepping out of his way. The professor had miraculously survived the snakes bite, once the battle was over, Mediwizards from St. Mungo's rushed in and took care of all the injured. Snape had barely been alive and was in the intensive care ward for weeks. Hermione was surprised to see him strolling along Hogwarts so soon after his injuries. She had expected it to take months to fully heal.

Hermione took a seat at the empty Gryffindor table and yawned, she would really need to go to sleep at a decent time tonight, and not stay awake reading _Hogwarts, A History_ again. She had memorized the book already, but found the familiar words soothing, something that helped to keep away the nightmares. She sips her pumpkin juice and begins to butter a piece of toast. While chewing she feels a tap on her back.

"Ms. Granger, would you please come to my office at the end of breakfast, there are some things about your schedule that I would like to discuss," says Professor McGonagall.

Hermione swallows, "Of course, Headmistress," she says, her eyebrows furrowing with worry _What could this be about…_ she thinks.

* * *

While everyone else was making their way to the first class of the new school year, Hermione is going to McGonagall's office. When she gets to the stone gargoyle, she realizes that she doesn't know the password and is frozen for a second. She then sees it spinning and the Headmistress emerges, "Ah, Hermione there you are! You go on up, I just have to go ask Professor Snape about something. The password is lemon drops." says McGonagall running down the hall. Hermione felt a pang of sadness in her heart, remembering that lemon drops was Dumbledore's password her first year attending Hogwarts.

Hermione goes into the office and looks around. it's changed so much since she was last in here, during the battle. Instead of a gloomy feel it had a rather bright, homey feel. The walls were a pastel shade of green, which was quite unlike the professor. The portraits of the past headmasters and headmistresses all appeared to be dusted and they were all smiling her. Hermione rather disliked the feel of being watched by them and wondered how the headmistress dealt with it all day long.

McGonagall rushes back in, slightly out of breath. "Oh, Ms. Granger yes, please take a seat," the headmistress says. Hermione sits down on the chair across from the desk wondering what was so important that she had to miss her first class of the year.

"Ms. Granger would you like some tea."

"Oh, no thank you, but, ma'am if you would, why am I here?"

McGonagall pauses, as if wondering if she was making the right decision. "The professors have been talking Hermione. They've been talking about your accomplishments during the war. Some are extremely impressed. We know that you want to continue onto further education when you leave Hogwarts, but we were wondering if you would want to apprentice in the field of Potions, we believe that you have serious potential to be a great potions master, and while you are at Hogwarts, you can get a head start. You would still have to take you NEWT exams, which are quite a full workload themselves, but you have memorized all of your textbooks and all of the Professors agree that you of all students would be capable of doing that as well as the apprenticeship. That is if you feel like you could do it."

"Professor, I would love to master the field of Potions"

"Very well, which teacher would you prefer to mentor you, Professor Snape or Professor Slughorn mentor?"

"Professor Snape or Professor Slughorn?"

"Yes, even though Professor Snape did not continue teaching Potions, he still retains his master in potions, and is perfectly willing and capable to mentor you, as is Professor Slughorn."

Hermione had to really think about this, she would be stuck with whoever she chose for who knows how long. Professor Snape was rude and Harry and Ron have hated him since their first year, but no, Hermione was done letting Harry and Ron influence her life. She was going to make her own decisions. Professor Slughorn was kind, but he definitely had favorites, and they were those that were going to succeed in the Wizarding World, and Hermione was still unsure about how well he actually knew Potions, and obviously Snape knew a lot, he knew enough to improve the text books during his sixth year.

"Professor Snape."

"Very well," the Headmistress said with a slight smile on her face, "Every Monday morning, and Friday afternoon, you are to go to his classroom, you will be studying different potion making processes, and the proper way to research and create a new potion. You will also help him by brewing potions that are necessary for the hospital wings stores. It will be a lot of work outside of your normal classes, but I believe that you can handle it."

"Oh, thank you Professor, should I go to his classroom now?" said Hermione, wondering if there was a class going on.

"Not right now, Professor Snape has a class. But go to him tomorrow morning and you two can discuss scheduling and he will most likely give you some research to do for your next lesson."

"Okay."

"Now get to your first class Ms. Granger."

Hermione left the headmistresses office and went to potions with Professor Slughorn. When she arrived she met a curious Ron and Harry asking why she had been late for the first class of the school year, Hermione doesn't usually miss these things, she even tried to keep up on her studies during the war. She gave them a look that said they would talk about it later.

All of her classes seemed like a blur when she arrived at the Great Hall for lunch. She could remember taking notes, and raising her hand and answering questions, but she could not remember the subject matter talked about in any of them. She was nervous, but also excited for her first meeting with Professor Snape, she wondered what his response would be to her picking him as a mentor. She had shown clear dislike for him for years, as did he, but now, after the war, she is looking towards him with a new light. Like a hero, not like the man that had made her life hell for six years.

"Hermione, where were you during Potions, we were worried about you?" asks Harry sitting down next to Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Yeah, worried we wouldn't have your notes to study off of for the NEWTS!" says Ron sitting down on the other side of her.

"Well thank you for caring _Harry_, I was in McGonagall's office, the Professors think that I should master Potions and start my apprenticeship this year."

"Spend all day with old Slughorn," Ron says shoving food down his throat at what Hermione presumed to be the fastest speed possible.

"No, with Professor Snape."

"SNAPE, why would you want to spend all day with that slimy git!"

"I wouldn't be spending all day with him, just a couple of extra classes! Don't forget, he is a hero, he has saved your life on multiple occasions and all you call him is a slimy git! He had the most difficult part during the war; lying to Voldemort! If he had been discovered, we would all be dead."

"Whatever, I still don't understand why you would want to spend all day with the git, he hated Harry, he just saved him because he stalked Harry's mum."

"Ron! He loved her. He would have died for her!"

"He stalked her."

Hermione could not believe the immaturity of Ron, even after the war he had not grown up. He had almost died on several occasions, you would've thought that that would have forced him to grow up.

"Whatever, Ron, I off to the library, have loads of homework to do." says Hermione, she hears someone respond to her, but she is unsure of what they said. She really needs to get some new friends.

* * *

After her trip to the library, which she spent napping because she had not had any homework, thank goodness Harry and Ron didn't take Arithmancy, the rest of the day pasted by with the same blur the morning had, she skipped dinner and went right to the dormitories, nervous about having to meet Professor Snape the next day. Their meeting at the Great Hall that morning had not exactly been friendly, and she was afraid that he felt some resentment for the way that he was treated during the war.

When she got to her dormitory, she had nothing to do. The clock only said 7:00 and she knew that that was an unacceptable time to go to sleep. She picked up _Hogwarts, A History_ again, hoping that it would put her to sleep.

Severus:

Severus groans when the light hits his eyes forcing him into consciousness. It is his first day teaching again at Hogwarts. He doesn't know if he will be able to handle the strain on his weakened body. The snake bite had drained his body of all energy for a month, and he had only had time to spend another month recovering and he is unsure of how taxing the school day would be.

Severus rolls on his side and looks at the clock hanging on the wall 7:00, he groans again. He doesn't need to be awake for another hour; however, now that he is awake, he would never be able to fall asleep. He gets out of bed, showers, puts on his robes and goes down to the Great Hall to get something to eat before the rest of the schools population awakes.

He sits at the teachers table alone, thankful that no one else was there, trying to converse with him. He drinks his pumpkin juice and eats his toast quickly and rushes out of there.

When he reaches the door, he pushes it open and there stands Hermione Granger. He hadn't seen her since the war, but she appears to be aged far beyond her years, something that war would do to a person. "Ms. Granger," he greets.

"Oh, Professor Snape, hi!" she says looking up and blushing slightly as surprise covers her face. "I wanted to thank you, for everything, and I apologize for not trusting you, I can only imagine what you've been through."

"Yes, Ms. Granger, you can _only_ imagine," he interrupts, tired of her droning and wanting to get back to his quarters, "And if you would please not waste any more of my time…" he finishes.

"Oh, sorry, yes, sir," she says stepping out of his way. Severus goes back to his quarters, when he arrives he looks around. _Back at Hogwarts_ he thinks to himself. _And now, what do I do with my life_. Severus had spent most of his existence in love with Lily Evans. Now, after the war, after he had saved her son from dying multiple times, there was nothing left. Except his potions.

Severus loved brewing potions, researching ingredients and ways to improve potions, and even creating new potions. He was lucky that he had enough patience and concentration to make it his career. Due to magic being able to instantly gratify a which or wizards needs instantly, there was a huge lack in the character trait of patience.

He looked at the clock, 7:35. It didn't take long to get from the Great Hall to his quarters. Classes didn't start until 8:30, so he had enough time to brew something for the Hospital Wing stores. He looks at the list of potions needed by Madame Pomfrey….. Pepper-Up Potion, that was easy enough.

Severus gathers and prepares the ingredients. He is slower than he used to be …before the bites. He begins to brew and lapses into the familiar pattern.

His concentration is broken by a knock on the door. "Shit," he mumbles and casts a stasis spell over the cauldron. "Enter."

"Oh Snape, thank goodness you're here," says a slightly out of breath Minerva, rushing into his rooms, "Remember what I talked to you about over the summer, about Ms. Granger, have you considered it? You wouldn't want Horace to be the one mentoring her would you."

Ahhh… that's what this is about. Snape had completely forgotten about the Headmistress' request. Him mentoring the insufferable know it all. Didn't seem too appealing. The headmistress did have a point, Horace mentoring a student, alone! She wouldn't survive the first week without being sent to St. Mungo's for an abnormal mental condition. _It would also give him something to do_, he subconsciously thought.

"If it would please you Minerva."

"Oh Severus, thank you!" she says running out the door as quickly as she came in. What had he just signed himself up for.

He heard chatter from the door that connected with his classroom and sighed, _Another year back at school._

* * *

Severus leaned back into his chair and stretched his neck from side to side. God how he hated teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Now that the Dark Lord was not in position to make Snape stay in the position, he wanted out. He could not stand the students who were unable to wave their wand and say the spell correctly, what the hell was the point of being a wizard if you are unable to do that. It infuriated Severus to no end.

He looked at the clock, 5:00, and he had two detentions coming at 8:00. What moron got a detention on the first day. These children were becoming less disciplined as the years went by. The feast didn't start until 6:00 and if he didn't want to be forced to attend by Minerva he better get something to eat now.

He went to the portrait and tickled the pear to get into the kitchen, "Master Snape, what would you like Sir!" said the house elf closest to him, Slinky or something like that.

"Would you please deliver some sandwiches to my room, I will not be attending the feast."

"Yes Master Snape, Winky will be there right away!" Winky was the creatures name. He was close.

He goes back to his rooms and sees that the sandwiches have already arrived. He eats a couple and remembers the Pepper-Up Potion he started that morning, he jumps up and rushes to the cauldron, eager for something to do, disables the stasis spell and gets to brewing.

Yet again his concentration is broken by a knock on the door. He casts another stasis spell and says, "Enter."

Minerva rushes in yet again. "Will you be attending the feast, Severus?"

"No Minerva, as you can see I am brewing and had the house elves deliver some food to my room already."

"Oh, I just thought that you would like to be there for the first feast this year."

"Minerva, you cannot get me to come, and this is not the first feast of this year, there was one just last night, which I was forced to attend, despite my protests."

"Well the classes hadn't started yet, so that does not count as this year."

"Yes Minerva it does." he says opening the door and pointing to it to hint that she should leave. The women did not know when to leave him alone, "And can you please announce that anyone who was assigned a detention with me should now report to Argus, I'm not up to punishing them." He was sure that Filch wouldn't mind. He loved to punish kids, unfortunately his favorite form of punishing was now illegal.

"Fine Severus. But you will attend the next one." she says walking out the door.

"No, I will not," he says shutting the door in her face before she has a chance to rebut.

He glances at his unfinished potion and decides against finishing him that night, his argument with Minerva made him realize how exhausted he is. He was still recovering and was not able to overtax his body, which he was afraid he had already done teaching his dunderheaded students. He sighed, went into his bedroom, stripped down into his boxers, got into his bed, and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Day TWO!

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING!

and sorry I do not update nearly as much as I want to. I did not realize how much time it would take. In April I'm doing Script Frenzy (.com), so i probably won't update again for a while. Send me messages though! Also R&R, that would be really helpful because this is my first fanfiction :)

_**Tuesday, September 3rd**_

_**Hermione:**_

Hermione wakes up to Ginny's squeals. She peels her eyes open, them burning, not being used to the brightness of the sun. She lifts her head off of her pillow and rubs her eyes. She looks out the window and sees that the sun is just rising. She turns to Ginny who is still in her robes from the previous day. "Ginny, why are you up so late?" she asks

"I just got back in," Ginny giggles. Oh god, she was drunk. Now Hermione could smell the Firewhiskey on her breath.

"Have you been drinking?" Hermione says with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Noooo… hehehe, I mean yes," Ginny slurs.

"Oh God," Hermione says getting up and going to Ginny, she casts a sobering charm. "Your going to need a hangover potion."

"Could you get me one, Hermione?" Ginny says, hands going to her temple, feeling the headache forming. Sobering charms remove alcohol, but they do not prevent the symptoms of the hangover.

"I don't have any Ginny."

"What about going to Snape, I bet that he has them."

"Professor Snape is probably asleep," she glances at the clock, "It's six in the morning."

"Exactly, you'd be able to sneak in there and get it, I would if this blasted headache would go away!"

Hermione thought about it, the probability of Professor Snape being awake was slim. She could borrow Harry's invisibility cloak for the hallways.

"Okay Ginny, I'll be back in twenty minutes."

"Thanks a lot Hermione," Ginny says with a smile that turns out more like a grimace.

Hermione puts on her robes quickly, leaves the dormitories, runs up to the boys and not bothering to ask takes Harry's cloak and then is in the halls headed towards the potion stores. _Surely they have hangover potions in the stores. The teachers are known to party during the holidays and weekends. Also, after the war, some might be falling back on alcohol like Professor Trewlawney used to…_ Hermione thinks.

She approaches the cabinet and quickly looks around. _Damn. If only I had the map. _She couldn't see far in the dark, and didn't want to risk casting _lumos,_ in case Professor Snape was around. She didn't want to lose points for her house in the first week of school. She wanted to avoid losing any points at all if possible. In the past she had lost points, but it was all the fault of Harry and Ron. They tried too hard to be on top of everything, and had made a lot of mistakes along the way.

Hermione slowly opens the cabinet and it makes a creeeeeeek. _Damn._ She casts a _lumos_ sticking her wand as far into the cupboard as she can, and her eyes glide over the potion names until she finds the correct one. In her concentration she doesn't hear the footsteps behind her. As Hermione's hand clasps around the bottle, she suddenly hears a loud voice say, "Why what do we have here, someone stealing from my stores?"

It was Snape, he didn't know whom it was yet, she still had the invisibility cloak over her. She turns around slowly; _Shit. _She whispers _nox_ and the light from her wand goes out. The light from his wand is bright enough to light the area though.

"The question is, is it Potter, in his famed invisibility cloak, or is it Weasley?"

She contemplates running, but she knows that she wouldn't make it anywhere in time, and knowing him he cast some sort of immobilization charm to prevent her from moving her feet. She knows that she would be in far less trouble if she gives herself up.

"No, it's me," she says hesitantly, pulling off her cloak.

"Ms. Granger! Your not supposed to meet me for another two hours!" he says with a bemused expression on his face.

"I know sir," she says biting her lip. She didn't know whether or not to tell him the truth. _He is a legilimens, I would be surprised if he wasn't using legilimency on me right now. _"It's Ginny sir, she wasn't feeling very well, and I thought that it would just be easier for me to get a potion from here, than going to the Hospital Wing or to you."

"A hangover potion?" he says raising one eyebrow.

_Damn he knew._ "Yes," she says bowing her head down.

"I assume knows the schools policy against underage drinking. You shall tell her that she is going to report to my office at eight o'clock this evening."

"What about me?" Hermione asks, surprised that she hasn't yet been scolded for being out of her dormitory this late.

"You, Ms. Granger, will be spending enough time with me already," he says, walking away from Hermione.

That was strange. She turns and heads back to the dormitory. He didn't punish her, from taking from his stores, or from being out of bed.

She made it to the Fat Ladies portrait and she says the password, luckily the Fat Lady had already awakened. She goes back into the girls dormitory, takes off the cloak and hands the potion to Ginny.

"Thanks a load Hermione, I'm assuming you weren't caught," Ginny says with a relieved expression on her face.

"Actually… I was, Professor Snape caught me and told me to tell you to go to his office at eight o'clock tonight."

"What!? Snape caught you and you made it back here alive, and with the potion! Wait, why do I have to go to his office?"

"I told him why I was getting the potion and he said, 'I assume knows the schools policy against underage drinking.'"

Ginny was obviously having trouble concentrating due to exhaustion.

"Just take the potion and go back to sleep." Hermione says with a hopefully comforting smile on her face. Ginny gulped down the potion and was asleep within moments. Hermione put her head back down on her pillow and shut her eyes, willing them to sleep.

An hour and a half later, and Hermione had no luck. She gets up and takes a shower. By the time she goes to the Gryffindor common room, it was almost time for her to meet with Snape. If she was worried before, now she was terrified. She heads down to the dungeon and knocks on his door, praying that for some reason he would not be there. Unfortunately, he is.

"Enter" he says. Hermione walks in seeing him behind his desk.

"Ah, Ms. Granger, I trust that Ms. Weasley is aware of her detention?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione says, nervous that he may change his mind and punish her.

"Very well," he says, and Hermione breathes a sigh of relief, "You are here to discuss your so called apprenticeship with me. This is not going to be easy work, and surely it will not end after you graduate Hogwarts unless you want your life to go in a different direction. Becoming a potions master is tiring and it tests your skills, pushing them to the level, and then past that, do you think that you are going to be able to accomplish that?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione says, her brain a bit dizzy from lack of sleep, food, and all of the information being processed.

"You are going to put in many hours here, and take some extra time brewing potions for the hospital wing to allow me time to plan your lessons; do you feel like you can manage time for that along with your other NEWT level classes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well Ms. Granger, your first assignment, due to me at our first lesson, which will be six o'clock this Friday evening, is a two foot essay on the brewing process and the properties of Wolfsbane. Can you do that Ms. Granger?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione repeats, still astonished at the lack of punishment.

"At that lesson we will arrange a schedule that will not impede with any of our other duties. Now it is about time for you to go to your first class," he says as he lead her to the door, and opened it, signaling that it was time for her departure.

By the time Hermione reaches Herbology her head was still spinning from all that Professor Snape had said to her at their meeting.

* * *

The day past in a blur, and by the time Hermione gets to bed she is exhausted. She had made sure to eat dinner tonight; she didn't think that she would be able to go another night without it. She had just made quick work of it and barely talked with her friends. After that she went to the library, did her homework, and began researching Wolfsbane for her first assignment as Snape's apprentice.

She glances at the clock and it was eleven o'clock. A decent time to go to sleep, for the first time in a while. She puts her head onto the pillow, and falls asleep within moments.

_**Severus: **_

Severus feels something bright hit his eyes and suddenly awakes. "Damnit," he whines as the sun wakes him up for the second day in a row, too early for the day to actually begin. _I really have got to get some curtains_, he thinks. He turns his head the other way and tries to fall back asleep to no prevail.

He glances at the clock. Six o'clock! "Ughhhh" he says burying his face back into the pillow not wanting to get up, but unable to fall back to sleep. He lifts his head up, and a pain enters his forehead. Damn. He had overexerted himself yesterday. He didn't know how he would have survived if he had supervised the detentions that he assigned last night.

Knowing full well that he would not be able to slip into a state of unconsciousness, Severus gets up, showers, and puts on his robes. As was his daily morning regime.

When he steps into his quarters he sees the cast away cauldron of Pepper Up Potions. He begins to brew. Hoping that the process is not interrupted as it was yesterday. As soon as he gathers up the ingredients needed, he hears a shuffling coming from right outside his quarters.

Severus steps into the corridor and he sees his personal potions store open, and a light coming from it, but no person. _Potter,_ he thinks._ Potter and that damn invisibility cloak. Finally a chance to confiscate it. Or maybe it's Weasley. Or maybe both_. Severus casts a silencing charm over himself. Stalks up behind the thief; disables the silencing charm; and says, "Why what do we have here, someone stealing from my stores?"

Severus can feel the terror. He hears a shuffling noise of someone turning around. He casts a lumos, to make sure they can't run from him.

"The question is, is it Potter, in his famed invisibility cloak, or is it Weasley?"

"No, it's me," says a very weary looking Hermione Granger.

"Ms. Granger! Your not supposed to meet me for another two hours!" Severus says, surprised to be catching his trainee out of her dormitory past curfew.

"I know sir," she says biting down on her bottom lip. She hesitates before speaking again; "It's Ginny sir, she wasn't feeling very well, and I thought that it would just be easier for me to get a potion from here, than going to the Hospital Wing or to you."

"A hangover potion?" Severus says raising one eyebrow.

"Yes," she says, her head beginning to hang, waiting for a punishment. Severus couldn't punish her for caring for her friend, who had no doubt woken Hermione up.

"I assume knows the schools policy against underage drinking. You shall tell her that she is going to report to my office at eight o'clock this evening." Severus says and turns to walk away.

"What about me?" she asks, expecting Severus to have punished her. Surely the big bad potions teacher would NEVER let any off!

"You, Ms. Granger, will be spending enough time with me already," he says, walking away from her. Going to finally finish his Pepper Up Potion.

Severus gets back to his quarters and shuts the door with a sigh. He doesn't have a class until after lunch, thank god. He did have that blasted Granger girl coming though. She would only be a few minutes. He set about brewing the Pepper Up.

* * *

Right after the completion of his Pepper Up Potion Severus hears a knock outside of his classroom. He walks from his private lab and sits behind his desk. "Enter," he says and Ms. Granger walks in.

"Ah, Ms. Granger, I trust that Ms. Weasley is aware of her detention?"

"Yes, sir," she says nervously.

"Very well," he says, "You are here to discuss your so called apprenticeship with me. This is not going to be easy work, and surely it will not end after you graduate Hogwarts unless you want your life to go in a different direction. Becoming a potions master is tiring and it tests your skills, pushing them to the level, and then past that, do you think that you are going to be able to accomplish that?"

"Yes, sir,"

"You are going to put in many hours here, and take some extra time brewing potions for the hospital wing to allow me time to plan your lessons; do you feel like you can manage time for that along with your other NEWT level classes?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well Ms. Granger, your first assignment, due to me at our first lesson, which will be six o'clock this Friday evening, is a two foot essay on the brewing process and the properties of Wolfsbane. Can you do that Ms. Granger?"

"Yes, sir," Ms. Granger repeats.

"At that lesson we will arrange a schedule that will not impede with any of our other duties. Now it is about time for you to go to your first class," he says standing and opening the door for her departure.

She leaves and Severus looks around. Now what to do. Severus settles on taking a nap. He needs all of the energy he can retain, and after waking up so blasted early…

Severus lies down and is asleep within minutes.

* * *

When he awakes again, he looks at the clock on his bedside table and it says 11:00. Thank goodness he was able to get some sleep. He was much better rested now. He stretches and becomes aware that it is the middle of the day, and their was still an hour until lunch began.

He remembers that he still has to bring up the Pepper Up Potion to Poppy. He gets up, puts the potion into vials, and then ascends the stairs to the Hospital Wing.

"Here you are Poppy, some Pepper Up Potion for your stores," he says walking into the room, confident that she wouldn't have any students on the second day of school.

"Ah, Severus, thank you," she says walking over to him and taking the vials from him. "We're going to be needing a lot of this once the colder months start coming."

"I know, it's a good thing I'll have Ms. Granger be assisting me with the potions for the hospital wing stores while I am training her in the art of potions."

"She'll make an amazing potions mistress Severus. The work that she did during the war was beyond believable for a witch who didn't even have her NEWTS."

"I'll keep that in mind Poppy, now I must be going down to lunch, Minerva was mad at me for skipping the feast last night."

"I'll talk to Minerva about that Severus, she knows that you mustn't be overexerting your self, which is exactly what you've been doing since the school year began. She needs to stop pressuring you to do more work, and start pressuring you to do less."

"I have actually just awaken from a very invigorating nap. My work load is fine at the minute. As soon as it becomes too stressful, you will be the first person I come to."

Severus always enjoyed joking around with Poppy; out of all of his colleagues at Hogwarts, she was definitely his favorite. He didn't understand how she had the patience to deal with all of the dunderheaded students and the injuries caused by their own stupidity.

He left the Hospital Wing and headed for the Great Hall. He would be among the first there, but he liked it that way. He didn't like drawing attention to himself when he walked into a large crowd of people. Except when he walked into his own classroom. He loved to see his students faces become filled with fear.

Severus sat in his usual seat at the teachers table, the farthest away from the center, and the closest to the Slytherin table. He ate his lunch quickly and then slid out of the room, avoiding any sort of communication.

He gave all of his classes simple tasks to judge their potion abilities, and then collected them, planning on grading them all later…..

After his classes were finished, he was frustrated. His students were honestly unable to do the easiest tasks. A total of three cauldrons were melted in his sixth year class, while they were making the potion given to them on their OWL the previous year. It also took them three times longer to prepare their ingredients that it should have.

He had no idea why Hogwarts didn't allow children to fail out or made to repeat a year or two. That was something that he had to talk to Minerva about. Something that the Muggles did correctly. They failed students, made them relearn material that they didn't learn the first time.

Severus went to his quarters and sat down on his couch. He was physically exhausted from the day, but wasn't tired enough to go to sleep. He settles on reading _Hogwarts, a History_, like he used to while he was a student, and unable to fall asleep.

After reading a couple of chapters, he remembers that he has to grade the potions that he had assigned today. Thankful that he was capable of grading them by appearance instead of actually having to test the potion, he made quick work of that.

After finishing all of his work, he heads to the kitchen for some more food, instead of going to the Great Hall again. He disliked having to deal with the entirety of Hogwarts population at once. The amount of people that are there at lunch is far less than the amount of people that populated the room during diner. He speaks to Winky again, he remembered the creatures name, and gets the house elves to deliver food to his room again.

He goes back down to his rooms, and sets about finishing _Hogwarts, A History_, falling asleep on his couch while reading it……..


End file.
